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Welcome to Life Is So Beautiful: It’s a handcrafted, non-AI-generated, free-range and artisanal weekly shotglass of hope and aspiration, lovingly curated by Hugh Hollowell (that’s me!), and is devoted to the belief that our hope for survival in this brutal world is rooted in finding the beauty that is everywhere, but sometimes hard to find.

I hope you enjoy it. - HH

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Hey y’all!

A friend once suggested I get a podcast, but then, after some thought, advised against it, as he said it would quickly devolve every winter to "Hugh gripes about the weather”.

In related news, it rained all last week. And I helped put on a 3 day training event for local interfaith leaders at the end of last week, where I slept an average of 4.5 hours a night, and was in full-on extrovert mode for 72 hours, and was so spent that on the drive home from the event I was nodding off at stop signs.

BUT! The sun is out today, and both the rain and the cold are going away for a while. My wife and I enjoyed a long, slow supper at a cheap Tex-Mex place last night, with endless chips and salsa, and then I came home and slept for 10 hours straight. And now, things seem possible again that did not before.

I once had an employee who was the most upbeat, optimistic person I know. She vibrated with positivity. And it wasn’t fake - it was real. She told me her secret was to tell herself every morning that today will be a good day. And then, throughout the day, to look for evidence you were right.

She did say though, that some days were harder than others.

But for me, today is a good day. I hope it is for you, too.

Five Beautiful Things

Richard Johnson’s collection of Ice Fishing Hut photography is delightful (I wonder sometimes about word combinations that haven't been used before - like “Ice Fishing Hut photography is delightful”) . I highly recommend you view this link on a bigger screen than your phone, as the grid format makes it for me. Apparently not just for me, because they are also selling prints of the grid as well.

A story I don’t think I have ever told publicly involves my aborted attempt to purchase a bookbindery in the early 2000’s - an adventure fraught with peril that involves a Southern Baptist Sunday School teacher, a disgruntled Armenian, a bookkeeping error, and a three year old girl. While in retrospect my not doing it was a wise decision, I will always hold a soft spot in my heart for the book arts. So, I loved this video with Sophia Bogle, a book restoration artist, doing her thing.

If you too are struggling to get through the winter doldrums, here are 60 vintage film noir movies for you to watch for free.

I was unfamiliar with the work of Christine Nguyen, but I am now a lover of her artwork - especially her ink on paper work, like the first 12 pieces on this page.

I know almost nothing about music - especially popular music - outside of very narrow parameters. I am friends with lots of people whose musical tastes are broad and inclusive. One advantage to this is I am constantly being exposed to things that are novel to me. This week I learned of Simian Mobile Disco, and their song Audacity of Huge, from 2009. I love this so much, and can think of no way I would have naturally come across it on my own. The song, the video, all of it. I have this in my head now.

Worth Reading

​The Queerness of the author of Little Women​

Louisa May Alcott: the name may as well be a synonym for “woman.” Her novel Little Women is a beloved, foundational text for girls the world over. An instant hit upon publication in 1868, the book has never gone out of print in the intervening 154 years. Countless women say that Little Women taught them how to be a woman, opening their eyes to the many paths their lives could take.

And yet, Alcott longed to be a man.

​File this under Exhibit A as to why I don’t publish on Substack (and thus leave much money on the table) *

Until Substack, I was not aware of any major US consumer internet platform that stated it would not remove or even demonetize Nazi accounts. Even in a polarized world, there remains broad agreement that the slaughter of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust was an atrocity. The Nazis did not commit the only atrocity in history, but a platform that declines to remove their supporters is telling you something important about itself.

* NB: I’m not judging those who have made other choices about where to publish their stuff. We all have our own lines. For me, I decided that actively sharing my income stream with people who willingly platform Nazis was on the other side of the line. Thus far, I am still willing to post free things to Facebook, whose record of malfeasance is well documented. There is no purity here. - HH

TCB

I dusted off my sadly neglected blog last week and wrote two pieces. I will always post links to the pieces I wrote here, but if you want them in your inbox as they appear so you don’t miss them (or want to subscribe via RSS) you can do that here.

​Rain: ​
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​Part of the work I am doing to make myself a better human is noticing the stories that no longer serve me, and trying to write new ones that serve me better.

​Change:​

Time no longer seems unlimited. Every tick of the clock is another moment gone, another lost opportunity, another unfinished project, another chance untaken. Based on actuarial tables, you have about 1800 Sundays left on this planet. That doesn’t seem like a lot.

The most clicked link from last week's issue (~21% of opens) was to these ethereal photos of the largest Cypress forest.

Thank You!

I mentioned up there that I leave money on the table by not publishing on Substack. That’s true. The only thing that saves me is the folks who belong to my Membership program, which is sort of like being a sustainer on NPR - a few people pay for everything, so it’s free for everyone else. I literally could not afford to do this week in and week out for the last 8 years had it not been for them. (Members also get occasional treats, like an occasional Members-Only newsletter, like the one that went out last week.)

So, dear members - Thank you! And if you want to know more about how the Membership program works, you can find out here. Other ways to support my work include buying me a cup of coffee, or forwarding this to someone you think might like it (If you received this email from a friend, and would like to subscribe, please go here).

Take care of yourself, and each other.

​HH​